Group communication systems, such as trunked radio or dispatch communication systems use a half-duplex Push-To-Talk (PTT) scheme. A user who wants to talk to the group, pushes a PTT button/switch to request the floor for the conference call. The user then starts talking upon getting the floor, while all other members of the group listen.
In wireless group communications, a single radio channel can be used for transmitting to all members of the conference call group in a cell. The listeners do not need an uplink channel when in a listen-only mode. This makes efficient use of radio channel resources, as well as power resources in the mobile terminals.
Calls conducted over an Internet Protocol (IP) network are typically full duplex where each endpoint is enabled for transmitting and receiving audio packets. This is inefficient for certain calls where only one participant may be talking at a time.
The present invention addresses this and other problems associated with the prior art.